5 minute read
Be the Creed
Be the Creed BE THE CREED /// STUDENT I believe in honesty and truthfulness, without which I cannot win the respect and confidence of my fellow men.
BY CARLA NELSON
TYLAN RUDOLPH
Sophomore Industrial and Systems Engineering
In only his second year on campus, industrial and systems engineering sophomore Tylan Rudolph has already made a big impact.
To name a few of his accomplishments, Rudolph is a Student Government Association senator, student recruiter, vice president of the National Society of Black Engineers, is involved with the Center for Inclusive Engineering Excellence and founded the Student Model Legislature. He is also involved in political and business consulting and is in the process of starting a venture capitalist fund.
“I am a service-based leader,” Rudolph said. “I like to throw myself in the fire, watch everything burn away and what’s left standing is what’s true. What’s left standing, that’s what my calling is.”
Rudolph describes himself as a businessman and serial entrepreneur. When deciding on a major, he looked for a program that was business-related.
“I love creating new processes,” Rudolph said of his decision to study industrial and systems engineering. “I love looking to new ventures and finding new ways to do things. The common denominator for excellence and the common denominator for good people who came out of good programs was Auburn. So, I knew this was where I had to be.”
Listen to our podcast with Tylan Rudolph at eng.auburn.edu/ginning
I believe in my Country, because it is a land of freedom and because it is my own home, and that I can best serve that country by “doing justly,
loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God.”
BY CASSIE MONTGOMERY
MOLLY HUGHES
When it comes to connecting with her students, Molly Hughes has a leg up on most other faculty at Auburn. The senior lecturer in civil and environmental engineering earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Auburn, so she has literally been through the same classes — and even sometimes the same classrooms — as her students.
“I had classes in the classrooms where I’m teaching now,” she said. “That’s very relatable to the students — I can say to them ‘when I took statics in this room’ — and I do think they probably relate to that on another level.”
Prior to joining the Auburn Engineering faculty in 2003, Hughes worked for the Air Force Research Labs at Eglin and Tyndall Air Force Bases. She caught the teaching bug first as an algebra teacher at a community college and then as a graduate class instructor at an outpost of the University of Florida.
When the Auburn position opened up, she knew it was the right fit.
“I am very blessed to have such an incredible job, but I’m also lucky to have students from their freshman year and to get to see them progress through. It’s so wonderful to get to see someone grow up and gain all this knowledge and apply it, and then they’re off to their fancy jobs,” Hughes said.
Though she describes her teaching style as “old school,” she boils it down to simply caring about students’ success.
“I try to let students know that I care and that they have the ability, if they’re willing to work — and they do have to work, they can’t expect it to osmose into their brain — but if they’re willing to work, then things will go well.”
I believe in education,
which gives me the knowledge to work wisely
and trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully.
BY AUSTIN PHILLIPS
Listen to our podcast with Shannon Price at eng.auburn.edu/ginning
SHANNON PRICE
Director Engineering Network Services
When COVID hit in March 2020, uncertainty was everywhere. Would classes be cancelled? Would classes move to remote instruction? If so, how? Shannon Price, that’s how.
With seemingly the flip of a switch, Auburn Engineering courses moved to remote instruction when students returned from spring break, and most people never missed a beat.
That’s because of Price, director of the college’s Office of Engineering Network Services who has served the university for the past 20 years, and his team of seven.
“My mother-in-law said to me, early on in the pandemic, ‘I guess you’re bored in the office with nobody in the building,’ to which I said, ‘We’re just supporting people who are taking classes online, teaching classes online, conducting their research online or working from home. That’s all,’” Price said with a laugh.
While it was challenging and a learning experience for all, it was almost 100% successful from the time everyone was sent home in March until in-person learning returned during the late summer and in the fall.
But Price is used to answering the challenge. As an Auburn Engineering graduate with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science in 1992 and 1994, respectively, Price knows what it means to undertake work, hard work.
He was the college’s first Birdsong Study Abroad Scholarship recipient, spending a year in Germany, and later returned to the classroom to earn a bachelor’s degree in the foreign language discipline.
Gut gemacht, Shannon, gut gemacht!
I believe that this is a practical world
and that I can count only on what I earn.
Therefore, I believe in work, hard work.
BY BETHANY DEUEL
CASEY ROBINSON TROUTMAN
Distribution Operations Manager Georgia Power
Growing up in a small Alabama town, Casey Robinson Troutman had to pick her football allegiance from a young age. After choosing Auburn University in the third grade, she visited Auburn for the Minority Introduction to Engineering (MITE) program while in high school, and her decision was confirmed.
“MITE exposed me to the various engineering disciplines, and I learned the value and reward that pursuing a technical degree could offer. I liked civil engineering because of the diversity of the degree,” she said. “You can do so many different things with civil engineering.”
Robinson Troutman, ’00 and ’03 civil engineering, got involved in several campus organizations, including the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), during her time as a student, where she found valuable mentorship.
“NSBE’s mission, ‘to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community’ was instilled in me. Having access to upperclassmen who could share their insights was helpful,” she said.
As a manager at Georgia Power, Robinson Troutman now uses the skill set she developed at Auburn University to implement strategic initiatives, problem-solve, build relationships and develop others.
“I think having an Auburn Engineering degree matters,” she said. “Many people invested in me and that’s why I believe in Auburn and love it. That is why my husband, Terry, and I give back to Auburn financially and why I serve on advisory boards in the College of Engineering; it’s about investing in others and leaving a legacy.”
